Catholic parishes in Sault Ste. Marie will use nearly $350,000 in sale proceeds from two churches and a retreat centre for evangelization.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Blessed Sacrament closed in 2010 due to a consolidation by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie. The move was prompted by aging priests and fewer parishioners. House of Hope, on St. George's Avenue West, was run by Blessed Sacrament.

Parishes that assume pastoral care of closed churches are also responsible for the closed site's liabilities and assets.

Precious Blood Cathedral, the city's oldest Catholic church, will receive about $285,000, or 82% of the total funds disbursed.

Its territory includes the former area of Blessed Sacrament, Bishop Jean-Louis Plouffe said in an open letter issued to parishioners at Precious Blood. Rev. Hamish Currie, cathedral pastor, served at Blessed Sacrament from 1995 to 2000.

Currie will talk with his parish council and former parishioners from Blessed Sacrament about plans for the cash in the next one to two months.

“We'll do a little consultation about it,” he said on Sunday morning.

Net proceeds of Blessed Sacrament's sale are $248,661 and $26,835 for House of Hope.

The cathedral also received $9,177 as its share from the sale of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Net proceeds from the sale of parish assets, $73,412, were divided evenly between eight city Catholic parishes (Holy Family, Our Lady of Good Counsel, Our Lady of the Highways, Precious Blood Cathedral, St. Gerard Majella, St. Gregory, St. Jerome, St. Veronica).

“Throughout the consultation process of the reorganization of the parishes in the city of Sault Ste. Marie, it was clear that the priority for our church was to be evangelization,” said Plouffe in his letter. “The parties who provided input, constantly and consistently came back to the need for our church to grow and to better connect with our faithful, and potentially those who have not yet established a connection with our parish communities.”

Pastors and finance committees at each church are responsible for the proceeds, but the bishop has final approval on how the dollars are spent.

“In the spirit of accountability, all transactions concerning the use of funds for evangelization must be approved by the bishop,” said Plouffe.

He thanked former pastors of Blessed Sacrament and Our Lady of Mount Carmel, parishioners and committees and councils “in making this difficult change a hope-filled event for the future presence of our church in Sault Ste. Marie.”

Two letters, dated March 12, were distributed to parishioners at Catholic churches in the Sault on the weekend. One was addressed to members of Precious Blood and former parishioners of Blessed Sacrament. Plouffe's second letter was directed to former parishioners at Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the eight churches sharing its sale proceeds.

Blessed Sacrament's parish on Cathcart Street was completed in 1939.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, also on the west-end street and the city's only Italian parish, was built in 1910.